"I was under the table with some of the staff and we just kind of held on to each other."

Raymundo is director of the San Bernardino County Public Health Department. She and Corwin Porter, the assistant director, planned to speak to the department employees at a Wednesday holiday party about the year's accomplishments and the upcoming year's goals.

Photos:San Bernardino shooting

Photos:San Bernardino shooting

Police officers stand guard as they investigate a suspicious vehicle in Redlands, California, on Wednesday, December 2, after a mass shooting in nearby San Bernardino in which 14 people died and 21 were injured. The shooting took place at the Inland Regional Center, where employees with the county health department were attending a holiday event. The two shooters -- Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik -- were fatally shot in a gun battle with police hours after the initial incident. Farook worked for the county health department.

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A police officer places a marker along East San Bernardino Avenue, near where the shootout occurred.

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Law enforcement officers search a residential area for suspects who fled after the shooting.

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Police search for the suspects in San Bernardino.

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The residential area was not far from where the shooting occurred.

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Law enforcement officers search a neighborhood in San Bernardino.

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A police officer loads his weapon while pursuing suspects.

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A SWAT team mobilizes during the search.

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People pray on the San Bernardino Golf Course, across the street from where the shooting took place.

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Heavily armed law enforcement officers swarmed the area where the shooting occurred.

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People leave a community center after reuniting with friends and family in the aftermath of the shootings.

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A woman is comforted near the scene of the shooting.

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A police helicopter hovers around the Inland Regional Center.

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Luis Gutierrez gets emotional as he talks about his wife who works in the facility and saw a gunman, according to Los Angeles Times photographer Marcus Yam.

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Two women speak with a firefighter at a triage area near the scene.

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Police stand guard outside of the emergency room at the Loma Linda University Medical Center, where some of the victims were being treated.

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Police escort civilians away from the site of the shooting.

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People walk away from the scene. It is unclear how many people were at the facility at the time of the shooting.

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Police in SWAT gear secure the area.

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Two women embrace at a community center where family members were gathering to pick up people from the scene.

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People gather at the San Bernardino Golf Course.

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People talk to police at the golf course.

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A woman is wheeled away on a stretcher.

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People are moved away from the area by bus.

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Police and fire personnel are seen near the site of the shooting.

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A crowd gathers behind the police line.

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Ambulances pull out of a staging area near the Inland Regional Center.

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A SWAT vehicle carries police officers.

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SWAT teams and a bomb squad were working to clear the buildings where the shootings took place.

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Raymundo said she was in the back of the conference room at Inland Regional Center at about 11 a.m. when the violence started. About 300 people were there.

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"I was at the table getting coffee and checking out the goodies that were sitting there and it was that point in time, you know, when we all heard gunfire right outside the door and all turned to look at the door to watch him come in," she said.

The attackers fled in a black SUV. Several hours later, police killed them in a shootout.

The couple killed 14 people and wounded 21 at the holiday party, almost all of them health department employees under Raymundo's supervision.

Raymundo and Porter said they didn't hear Farook say anything as he shot and didn't hear him arguing with anybody before the shooting started.

Police had earlier said an altercation might have sparked the shooting but on Friday played down that possibility, saying most witnesses said they didn't hear an argument.

Farook's co-workers in environmental health had given him a baby shower about six months earlier, when his daughter was born.

Raymundo said the health department will recover from this tragedy.

"You know, we're certainly thankful for the outpouring of support from everyone, but I need folks to know, we are strong," she said. "We are strong. We will get through this. We are together. We are a family. We will get through all of this together."